Homeowner Returns To Find House On Fire

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STROUD TOWNSHIP -- Firefighters say it was an accidental fire that destroyed a home in Monroe County Monday.

It left the owner with nothing except the clothes on his back.

Donald Kresge, 72, fought back tears as he watched firefighters douse the flames at his home in Stroud Township.

Kresge lost his 10-year-old son in a fire in 1980. This time no one was hurt but Kresge lost all that he had.

Fire engines swarmed around the home trying for nearly a half hour to douse the flames.

Kresge rents the home near Stroudsburg and says he had just left for the day when a friend called with the bad news.

"I came back, the house was on fire. Thank God I've got my good buddy here with me, he's with me all the time," Kresge said.

His buddy is his 8-year-old black lab named Onyx who was safely by his side.

It brought back painful memories of a fire in 1980 at his home in Snydersville when he lost his 10-year-old son Michael.

Fire officials believe they know exactly where this fire began.

"First arrived on scene, smoke was billowing out of all the crevasses in the house, the windows. (It) looks like it started in the kitchen area, probably," said Stroud Township Assistant Fire Chief Lee Philips.

Since Kresge wasn't home, the fire was actually first spotted by the owner of Thai Thani's restaurant, who happened to be outside.